# Freaky Fruit and Vile Vegetables



## Darla (Sep 7, 2009)

this came from Freaky fruit and vile vegetables: mother nature's freaks of nature - Telegraph







To make nature's wonders just that little bit more wonderful, man's helping hand may be required. For example, Gao Xianzhang of Hexia, northern China, has spent six years developing bizarre baby-shaped pears, carefully crafting each one inside an individual mould as it grows...






Locals snap them up, despite the hefty Â£5 price tag. Now Gao is planning to export the pear-babies to the UK and the rest of Europe






Watermelons seem to be a popular choice for novelty adaptation, Japan is home to the square watermelon...






..watermelon hearts..




...and even watermelon faces






Stickers placed on apples as they ripened created these Apple Mac apples. They were made by an apple-grower, and major Mac fan, in Fuji, Japan






Cucumbers grown in moulds, shaped like hearts and stars, add a little extra sparkle and love to an ordinary salad






Often though, mother nature will do her own experimenting on her healthy snacks. These bizarre creations all brought a smile to our faces...






...not least this little fellow with a smile of his own






A duck-shaped cucumber found in Skegness, Lincolnshire






A snake-shaped marrow found in Montreal, Canada






A tomato with a phallus-shaped growth, which was grown by George Findlay of Essex






A devilish tomato with horns, grown by a Bury pensioner, in Lancashire






Farmer Ernie Crouch (73) from Tasmania, Australia, with his potato man Tassie Tater






A cuddling carrot found in a Plymouth garden




A potato shaped like Sooty the bear, found by Michael Audus in Cambridge. Mr Audus decided not to eat it




A sweet potato that bares a resemblance to a rat






A heart-shaped potato, found in a sack of potatoes, in Wales






A rabbit-shaped ginger root






Tomato shaped like a rabbit, grown by David and Audrey Maber in Gosport, Hampshire






Then there's those vegetables that could feed an army. Farmer Simon Goldsworthy, 23, from Hayle in Cornwall, produced the largest pumpkin at the annual Bath and West Gardening Show - at 304kg...






...Amateur horticulturalist Ian Neale, 66, shattered the world record with a pair of super-sized swedes, each weighing 37kg. The previous record was 34kg






...Other scale-busting produce on show included carrots, beetroot and cabbages. Stacey Humphries poses between two huge cabbages






...A young boy with a giant cucumber, grown in Petah Tikva, Israel






But mother nature doesn't just experiment with shape and size, sometimes a fruit's colour or veg's pigmentation is the root of its weirdness, like these red bananas - a rare breed from Colombia






The Purple Jewel sweet potato, which has an overwhelming creamy and nutty taste, are grown in volcanic ash in Hawaii






Purple betasweet carrots, farmed as Islehah by Tomsett Burgess growers


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## pinksugar (Sep 7, 2009)

wow. Those baby shaped pears are actually really cool!


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## Ricci (Sep 7, 2009)

wow awesome thread Darla! so cool! love the devil tomatoe!


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## StereoXGirl (Sep 7, 2009)

Those bunny shaped ones are just the cutest!


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## GillT (Sep 7, 2009)

I love the different shapes of cucumber! They would make your average salad that bit more interesting.


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## Adrienne (Sep 7, 2009)

How cool, I really like the heart shaped watermelon.


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## jodevizes (Sep 8, 2009)

Wow this stuff almost makes GM normal. I would hate to be a little high and come across a tree filled with babies. A good way to brighten up salads though.


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## Dalylah (Sep 8, 2009)

They are all cute but the cuddling carrots got me hehe


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## Dragonfly (Sep 8, 2009)

Geez Darla, I almost missed your thread as it was buried pretty good...

Loved your pictures!


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## magosienne (Sep 10, 2009)

Awesome ! Some are really cute.


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## Ozee (Sep 11, 2009)

aww sooty potatoe!


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## Darla (Sep 14, 2009)

*Baby shaped pears*

*September 4, 2009 Â· 13 Comments*

20 Votes








Oh this is good, as in strange good. A Chinese farmer been tinkering with modified pears since 2003, and this year heâ€™s reportedly grown 10,000 edible Buddhas. The effect is achieved through growing pears in confining molds. These are just in time as the UK can once again celebrate wonky shaped fruit and vegetables thanks to the abolition of EU rules on the size and shape of 36 types of fruit and veg. Bring it oooooooooon!






Of this is nothing new and this pumpkin shaped like a human face was â€˜madeâ€™ decades ago using a similar technique. It may be old but I still find it terrifying today!






And I give you yet more examples of veg fiddling;









































In 1996, Laura Stein examined the line between cultural imposition and natural development;


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## fruit mould (Aug 8, 2012)




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